THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 5, 1996 TAG: 9604050485
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
Directing tourists to Roanoke Island attractions will cost taxpayers at least $2,500 more than anticipated.
Six years after town officials asked the state Department of Transportation to erect a sign showing visitors how to get to Manteo's waterfront, citizens and elected leaders finally agreed on the wording for the huge metal sign Wednesday night.
However, the destinations - and descriptions - they decided on are different from the ones already printed on a sign that was scheduled to go up this weekend. So it's going to cost at least $2,500 to make a new sign with the revised wording, state Transportation Engineer Don Conner said.
Taxpayers already have spent at least $37,000 on the sign and the 20-foot galvanized steel pole it will hang on. The existing sign has arrows to: ``Historic Waterfront Village'' and ``Elizabeth II.''
Attractions to be named on the new sign are: ``Manteo Waterfront, Elizabeth II, N.C. Aquarium, Lost Colony'' and Elizabethean Gardens, which will be abbreviated to ``Eliz. Gardens'' to save space.
The rectangular sign - 14-feet wide, 8.5-feet tall - probably won't be hung over Highway 64/264 until Memorial Day Weekend.
And instead of being illuminated all night, Board of Transportation Member R.V. Owens III said timers will turn the sign's lights off by 11 p.m.
``You're never going to make everybody happy on everything,'' Owens told Manteo town commissioners and about a dozen people in the audience at Wednesday night's board meeting. ``But Colonial Williamsburg's got signs up all over. And I guess Williamsburg's about as historic as Manteo.''
Most Roanoke Island business owners at the meeting agreed that the sign is needed to help direct potential customers to their waterfront shops. Roanoke Island Historical Association General Manager Jonathan Summerton, whose group produces ``The Lost Colony'' outdoor drama, said many of his guests miss the play's opening each summer evening because they can't find the theater.
But Manteo resident David Farrow, whose house is just across the highway from the sign's location, said he is ``against this monstrosity.''
``There's only one road through here,'' Farrow said. ``I don't see how anyone could get lost. I've talked to a lot of people in and out of this town and I haven't found a single one who liked that sign. People have found the Manteo waterfront for years and years without any sign at all.''
The new sign will be about a foot taller than the already constructed version. It will be able to withstand winds up to 110 mph. Owens said another sign probably will have to be made in about a year anyway to include planned additional attractions at Ice Plant Island.
Nags Head town commissioners also talked about their giant new sign at Whalebone Junction on U.S. Route 158 during a Wednesday board meeting. Responding to citizens' complaints about the green and brown sign that stretches across the five-lane highway, Mayor Renee Cahoon asked the staff to meet with state Department of Transportation officials to address concerns about the sign. At least one resident worried that the wording on the sign was confusing and could cause traffic accidents.
In other business Wednesday, the Manteo Board of Commissioners:
Voted unanimously to charge Manteo bed and breakfast owners residential water rates for the first 4,000 gallons used each month and non-residential water rates for any additional amount of water used.
Voted 4-1 to allow Manteo police officers to take their patrol cars home each evening. Commissioner Melvin Jackson cast the lone dissenting vote. By allowing each officer to have his or her own car, commissioners said, police will be able to respond to calls more quickly while they're off-duty. Since officers spend most of their work days in the cars, it also will help boost their morale if they can have control over their own vehicles, said North Carolina Justice Academy Manager Chet Jernigan.
Heard a report from Jernigan about a community survey that the Justice Academy conducted on the Manteo Police Department. According to the study, Manteo residents have a ``strong perception that drugs are a big community problem.'' Citizens also ``want to see officers more often, and they want less emphasis on vehicle patrol'' - with police walking their beats more often. Jernigan said the police force is already staffed with about the right number of officers for the workload. ``If you want to add new programs, though,'' Jernigan said, ``you might want to add new officers.'' by CNB